After lengthy discussion, Madison Common Council members fell short in their attempt to override Mayor Paul Soglin’s decision that blocked billboard ordinance changes.
“I don’t like to have all this advertising in my face.” Ald. Dorothy Krause of Fitchburg, District 1, said, during public testimony. “I think it’s time to let billboards simply go away.”
Defending the changes to the billboard ordinances, Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, argued to override the veto because the original ordinances are now outdated.
However, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, urged his colleagues to think twice about the veto.
“I think that if we vote to override this veto we really are doing a disservice to our staff,” Verveer said.
According to Verveer, the Council needed 14 votes in order to override the veto. The final count was two votes short.
In a separate decision, the council voted to accept a report favoring the creation of a grocery store in the Allied Dunnes Marsh neighborhood, which currently does not have any grocery stores.
“I happen to live in a great neighborhood with no grocery store,” Cassandra Sonko, President of Allied Co-op, said during public testimony. “And what that means is that we have to go to the gas station and go to McDonalds to purchase food. It’s a health issue that has moved to a health crisis.”
Ald. Maurice Cheeks, District 10, expressed his hope for the city to act quickly and efficiently on the behalf of the Allied Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood, highlighting the necessity of food accessibility. He also praised neighborhood activists for taking action to bring the issue to the table.
Ald. Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, District 5, also emphasized the importance of the grocery store project.
“I’m lucky to be over saturated with grocery stores, and this is [an issue] I’d rather spend three hours discussing, as opposed to billboards,” Bidar-Sielaff said.
Members also stressed that building a grocery store in the Allied Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood was not favoring one Madison district over others also in need.
“We have got to start somewhere,” Ald. Lisa Subeck, District 1, said. “If we take the leap of faith, and do what we need to do for one neighborhood, we can do it again for another neighborhood and another neighborhood.”
